How to use the timelapse calculator
- Choose whether to find the shutter interval or the clip length.
- Enter the length of the event in hours and minutes.
- For the interval, enter the clip length you want. For the clip length, enter the seconds between photos.
- Enter the frame rate the clip will play at, and open More options to add the size of one photo for a storage estimate.
Formula
frames = clip seconds x frames per second
interval = event seconds / frames
photos from an interval = event seconds / interval, rounded down
clip seconds = photos / frames per second
The speed-up is the event length divided by the clip length.
A 25 minute event in a 10 second clip
A 10 second clip at 30 frames per second needs 300 frames. Spread over 25 minutes (1,500 seconds), that is one photo every 5 seconds, and the clip plays 150 times faster than real life.
For a 3 hour 30 minute event and a 20 second clip at 24 frames per second you need 480 photos, one every 26.25 seconds. At 8 MB a photo, that is 3.84 GB. Going the other way, photos every 7 seconds over 2 hours 1 minute give 1,037 photos, which play for 0:41 at 25 frames per second.
Setting your camera
Cameras offer certain intervals only, so round to a setting you can choose. If you round the interval up, you take fewer photos and the clip is shorter. If you round it down, you take more and the clip is longer. Run the page again with the rounded interval to see the new length.
Leave room between the exposure time and the interval, since a long exposure needs time to finish before the next photo. Plan for battery and card space too. A clip of a few seconds can need hundreds of photos.
Related tools
To time a photo slideshow rather than a timelapse, use the Slideshow Length Calculator. The Time Duration Calculator finds the length of an event from its start and end, and the Image File Size Calculator estimates how big each photo is.
Assumptions and limits
- Photos are taken at an even interval for the whole event.
- The playback frame rate is fixed for the clip.
- Storage uses 1,000 MB per GB and the photo size you enter. Real files vary with the scene.
- Frames are never dropped by the camera.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the interval for a timelapse?
Multiply the clip length by the frame rate to get the number of photos, then divide the event length in seconds by that number. A 10 second clip at 30 fps over 25 minutes needs a photo every 5 seconds.
How many photos do I need for a timelapse?
The clip length in seconds times the frame rate. A 10 second clip at 30 frames per second needs 300 photos.
How long will my timelapse clip be?
Divide the number of photos by the frame rate. Switch to Clip length, enter the seconds between photos and the page counts the photos in the event for you.
What frame rate should I pick?
Use the rate of the video you will edit in, such as 24, 25, 30 or 60. A higher rate makes motion smoother but needs more photos for the same clip length.